Portland, Maine - Today Brian Petrovek, Portland Pirates' Managing Owner/CEO made the following statement about the Anaheim Ducks affiliation with Iowa, "We appreciate the opportunity we have had over the past three seasons to work with the Anaheim Ducks. The Ducks' organization provided our fans and our community with a high quality product both on and off the ice. We're grateful for that and we wish the Ducks well as they relocate their minor league player development activities closer to home. The Portland Pirates brand is better and stronger as a result of our time together.

We will be introducing our new NHL affiliate to our fans in the near future. We're confident that the bar that's been established over the past three seasons, both on and off the ice, will be challenged in the years ahead as we continue a commitment to championship performance on the ice and in our community.

Contrary to a headline which appeared in the Sports section of today’s Portland Press Herald, characterizing our future as "unsettled", our future has never been brighter, our expectations never higher. We're looking forward to the next chapter of Portland Pirates Hockey with a great deal of excitement and optimism."